INTERNATIONAL SHOWCASE - HISPANIC SIDEBAR

Monday, April 11, 2005 at 9:00pm at Regal Winter Park Village
Saturday, April 16, 2005 at 4:00pm at Regal Winter Park Village
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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC/USA, 2003, 75 MIN, IN SPANISH W/ENGLISH SUBTITLES
DIRECTED BY ALEX WOLFE
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE
Move over Buena Vista Social Club! In SANTO DOMINGO BLUES, director Alex Wolfe chronicles the rise of Bachata music from vulgar “ghetto music” to the “new beat of the streets” as the underdog style becomes the hottest new phenomenon in Latin music since salsa broke in the early 1970s. Also known as the “Song of Bitterness,” Bachata grew infamous as the anthem of the hard-drinking, down-on-his-luck Dominican man—the deepest expression of the downtrodden. The “Supreme King of Bitterness” Luis Vargas recounts his beginnings in Santa Maria, where backyards turn into dance floors when Bachateros strum their guitars. Bachata is music of the people, and the denizens of the bars and bodegas, the street vendors, and the service drivers all contribute to Wolfe’s soulful story. Filled with poignant Caribbean humor, hot dancing, and great tunes, this heartfelt immigrant success story expertly showcases a poor people’s music that triumphs over censorship and prejudice.